Training for work - New agency bears huge responsibility

IN a country with just under 450,000 people out of work, very many on a long-term basis, it is hard to overstate the importance of effective training, retraining and education services to facilitate any return to work.

It is essential too to constantly hone skills because without relevant, up-to-date capabilities right across the workforce, this economy will not be as competitive as it must be if we are to recover economic independence.

As the international competition to secure foreign investment intensifies all the time, it is essential to have workers with the skill sets needed to inspire confidence in the decision makers who choose where investments, and the vital jobs they bring, go.